Let’s talk about newborn photography safety for a minute.
This session is a perfect example as to why you should always hire someone who has been well trained in newborn photography safety.
Beautiful Penelope has been scheduled for her newborn photography session months before her arrival. But once she arrived, we had to wait just a little bit longer. Penelope was apparently too comfortable in mom’s tummy and didn’t want to come out. She was quite stuck and suffered a broken arm while being (very dramatically as mom described it) pulled out during a cesarian section.
She had to have her arm bandaged for a while but fortunately it came off once we were ready for her photo debut. Her arm was still sore so I was very careful not to put any pressure on that arm or move it too much. So we started wrapped so that I could keep her arm down at her side.
It is so important that your photographer not only knows how to handle babies but also knows how to pose them correctly, what is comfortable and uncomfortable for newborns, what things they should be looking for during the session like the baby’s breathing, making sure fingers and toes aren’t turning purple and making sure baby isn’t too cold or too hot. Overheating a baby is especially dangerous.
Once I felt she was fairly comfortable and mom and dad explained how to best dress and undress her due to her arm, I was able to get some nude photos and in a couple of outfits. As you can see, she was quite comfortable throughout.
And of course, no session is complete without some parent photos and we were lucky enough to have grandma available too.
Newborn photography safety should be one of the first things parents should consider when hiring a photographer. Unfortunately, anyone can pick up a camera and say they’re a photographer. But that doesn’t mean that they should be handling and attempting to pose babies. Newborns can get sick easily so your photographer should NEVER work with a baby when the photographer is sick. Photographers should NEVER hang a baby from anything. These images should only be done as composites. And photographers who choose to work with babies should be vaccinated just as if they worked in the baby ward at a hospital.
ADC Photography is not only certified in newborn photography safety, but certifies fellow photographers all over the world through our safety course.
Please consider all these things when hiring a newborn photographer. If you are out of state, please use the AANPS Find A Photographer page to find a certified photographer in your state.
